Top five useless inventions that made millions

16 January, 2014

2 Min Read

By: Jake Riggir

Sometimes, when you catch adverts on the television, you think ‘who in their right mind would buy that?’ Well, plenty of people, it would seem. Presenting the top 5 seemingly useless inventions, which went on to make their creators a huge profit.

5. Antenna BallsThough not as popular now, we’ve all seen these at some point on the roads. Those ‘in-your-face’, smiling yellow balls sitting atop of car antennas, made Jason Wall a lot of money. Within a year of selling the antenna balls through local auto-stores in California in 1998, he had earned more than $1.15 million in sales.

4. Santa MailMillions of kids around the write to Santa in the lead up to Christmas, praying that they will get a response. In 2002, a man called Byron Reese saw the potential, and at $9.95 a letter, made it possible for kids to send and receive a letter from Santa. As of now, Santa Mail has seen 350,000 children sending in letters, and at $10 a letter, well, you do the math.

3. The Koosh BallThat ‘thing’ that we’ve either had at home or seen at a mate’s place. Made from rubber strings attached to a soft rubber core, these ridiculous looking balls made Scott Stillinger millions. Stillinger made them for his kids as something easy to catch in 1987 and within 12 months it was the year’s hottest Christmas gift. His company OddzOn was bought by Hasbro in 1997 for more than $100 Million.

2. DogglesAfter Roni Di Lullo noticed her dog squinting in the sunlight, she thought something needed to be done. That’s when she invented Doggles, sunglasses for dogs. Labelled as “the most useless invention ever” by the Daily Mail, Di Lullo’s company MidKnight creations (named after the squinting dog) now pulls in around $3 million a year.

1. Pet RockIn 1975, Gary Dahl had an idea after hearing people complaining about their pets. The idea? Selling Pet Rocks, along with instructions on how to look after your Pet Rock. A stupid idea, you might say, but Dahl was a multi-millionaire within six months.